Washington Nationals' catcher Jesus Flores endures foul balls and bounce pitches behind plate - MLB
Last week has been tough on Jesus Flores, not for his performance, but for his body, which has endured the onslaught of wayward pitches and foul balls. In the last game against the Boston Red Sox, his hand was riddled by a foul ball. For a while, it looked
certain that he had a serious injury.
Ever since Wilson Ramos has torn his ACL, Jesus Flores has joined the Washington Nationals in the season.
As a catcher, Ramos was going perfectly. His sudden injury had put the Nationals into an unpleasant dilemma. Finally, Flores was named in his place, for doing the catching job. Much to the satisfaction of the whole club, he has done a tremendous job so far.
Flores has made terrific defensive plays behind plate. He has shown great amount of interest to the proceedings. With his understanding of the game, he helped the pitchers during crucial moments. In short, he carried out his role just the way the Nationals
wanted.
However, pitchers have been cruel on his body at-times. Certain bounce balls have hit hard and have hurt to an extent of sending him to the verge of severe injury. On Sunday, his hand suffered serious pain when it was smashed by a foul ball. However, the
pain dissipated soon and he was not taken off the park.
Nationals’ manager Davey Johnson was surprised at the way Flores quickly got rid of the pain, from an apparently dangerous looking situation of his hand.
Johnson spoke of the situation when a catcher has to be replaced half way through the game and how badly it affects overall performance of the team. In this respect, Johnson expressed his happiness that at-least he did not have to change catcher in the game.
“Boy, he got it bad,” Johnson said. “It was black and blue when I went out there, and miraculously he could stay in the game. You hate to, in that kind of game, change catchers. He knows the hitters. He knows what to call. It was a gutty move on his part
to be able to stay in the game.”
Against all the odds, Flores’ resolve to stand out and help the Nationals remains unfazed. He is ready to face the challenges ahead and is fairly confident that he will come out successful.
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